Today’s lesson will be all about the French verb quitter. This verb often causes confusion among students as its main meaning is “to leave”, rather than “to quit”. For example, the meaning of the famous French song Ne me quitte pas is “don’t leave me”. Keep reading as we have lots of great example sentences.
quitter
to leave
Quitter Meaning & Translation
Quitter origin and conjugation
Quitter comes from the Latin word quitus, which means rested, calm and in peace.
Quitter is regular ER verb. This means that its endings are the same as other regular ER verbs when conjugated in the present tense.
Je quitte I leave
Tu quittes You leave (singular, informal)
Il, elle, on quitte He, she, one leaves
Nous quittons We leave
Vous quittez You leave (plural, formal)
Ils, elles quittent They leave
Example sentences with quitter
Leaving a person
As mentioned, the most common usage of quitter is to leave, as in leaving a person. Belgian singer Jacques Brel made the line famous in his 1959 song Ne me quitte pas (Don’t leave me).
Ne me quitte pas ! J’ai besoin de toi !
Don’t leave me! I need you!
Après trois ans ensemble, Martin quitte sa petite copine.
After three years together, Martin is leaving his girlfriend.
Leaving a place
The verb quitter can also be used in the context of leaving a place. Here’s an example.
Je vais quitter Paris le 17 mars.
I’m going to leave Paris on March 17.
Conversation usage
You could also use quitter in a telephone conversation to say something to the effect of “I have to go (or hand up) now.”
Pardon, je dois te quitter, mon ami m’attend.
Sorry, I have to leave you. My friend is waiting for me.
To part ways
In the form of reciprocal reflexive verb, se quitter means “to leave each other” or “to part ways”.
Ils se quittent sur le quai de la gare.
They are parting ways on the train station platform.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! You now have a very strong grasp of how to use the verb quitter (to leave) in French! Now check out our lesson covering the verb bosser. Rather than meaning “to boss around”, this commonly used informal verb means “to work” or “to work hard”.
French Lessons by David Issokson
References
